Playing With Fire
by Bronwyn Fox
Summary: The usual. Things never go right and Max and Alec are always at the center of it. NOW COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Standard disclaimer applies. I'm poor, broke, and not currently in the ownership of any tv shows or characters.

Enjoy.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The police were after them. Citizens were harassing them. White and his men and a lot of other psychologically-challenged government agents were hunting them. They were low on food, they had horrible accommodations, there weren't enough clothes, and half of their city was leaking under the torrential rain that kept coming down.

That being said, things were going surprisingly well in Terminal City, and that was why Max was in such a bad mood that day.

In her experience, Murphy was a close friend of transgenics – he and that stupid law of his. Things didn't go well. If they did, something was wrong, and something terrible was about to happen. Max didn't want it to happen, so she set about that day, snapping at everyone who looked like they weren't devoting 100 of their attention to whatever they were doing, even that happened to be taking a drink. She could feel the bad omens piling up in a very foreboding way, and she didn't like it.

So when she turned a corner in her rounds and found Alec having what looked to be a casual conversation with a young X6, Max blew up before she could help it. The biggest problem was actually that he was in the middle of most of TC's population in command. That wasn't unusual by any means, and he barely raised an eyebrow in response as he stood there and took it, the other transgenics and transhumans looking around as though trying to find a nonchalant way to disappear.

In the end, though, Max went too far. And she knew it the second the words came out of her mouth. Her shouting had been slowly diminishing until she was just talking icily, and she said, "Get out of Terminal City, Alec. You've caused enough trouble and I just need you to be somewhere else."

"Excuse me?" he asked, as though what she'd just said wasn't in English.

"You. Trouble. Leave."

His normally impassive face actually showed some emotion for once, and he finally said, "What if you need my help?"

"I won't," she snapped. "Just go."

Alec stood still for a moment, knowing all eyes were on him. After a few tense minutes ticked by, in which most of the unintended audience expected Alec to become understandably violent, he forced a characteristic smile on his face. "Okay, Maxie," he said with a light tone, putting his hands up in surrender. "But don't ever say I didn't try."

"Go already," she retorted.

He nodded once in acknowledgment to Mole and Joshua, then turned and walked out without looking back. The silence that followed was deafening. Whereas everyone had previously been awaiting Alec's reaction, they were now all staring at Max, wondering if she was going to explain or at least say something. She bit her bottom lip as guilt and regret crashed down all around her, went into her office, and slammed the door without a word. No one moved the whole time.

"Medium fella shouldn't be alone," Joshua said softly, breaking the paralyzing awe that permeated the room.

"It's true," Mole answered. "Someone should go after him. An X-series so they don't attract too much attention. He needs someone to stay with him. Who wants to go?"

After the tirade earlier, for some reason, Mole actually expected no one to volunteer. So when every single transgenic in the room asked if they could go, he was a bit surprised. Eventually, he selected Dalton to go and send the kid scampering off after his hero with a big grin. Everyone that remained knew Max would be furious if she found out, so Mole added, "If she asks, Dalton is on a supply run, or doing some job that he can't be taken away from. He's always busy."

At the agreeing nods, Mole sent them back to their posts or beds or wherever they wanted to go as long as it wasn't in command any more, which worked out fine since no one really wanted to see Max blow up at Alec in the first place. Joshua locked gazes with Mole for a few seconds, and then turned to gently push Max's door open. Everyone who was still in command at that point disappeared quickly when they saw what he was doing.

Max was sitting at her desk, head buried in her arms on her desk. She wasn't trembling in sobs, just sitting quietly. Joshua entered the room completely and shut the door behind him so he knew she would have heard him enter. "Little fella?" he asked humbly.

"What?" she snarled.

"What did Alec do?"

His words caught her off-guard, though she couldn't explain why. It was definitely what she should have expected him to ask. There was no question that he liked Alec a lot and was disturbed by the scene. "Not enough to get himself kicked out," she finally muttered.

Joshua tilted his head and came closer as she sat up to look at him. "Then why is he gone?"

She took a deep breath. "I don't know. I was edgy. He probably won't leave, anyway. He never does what I ask."

There was a tentative knock on the door just then. Joshua stepped back and pulled it open to reveal Dix. "We got a broadcast," he said shortly, flicking disdainful eyes at Max between words. "A transgenic was captured."

Stunned silence filled the room, and finally Max asked, "Who?"

He glared. "Who do you think?"

"He couldn't have gotten out already . . . could he?"

Joshua spared her a somewhat sympathetic glance and then turned back. "Police?"

Dix shook his head. "We wish. It's White."

Max jerked. "How do you even know –"

"Alec had found their signal and tapped into it," the transhuman interrupted. "He figured we should be keeping tabs on one of our worst enemies."

"Oh."

"Alive?" Joshua asked.

Dix moved his gaze to Max as he answered, "We don't know. All we know is that they got him . . . and Dalton."

"What?" Max sprang to her feet in surprise. "Dalton?"

"Followed his hero out," Dix said cryptically, leaving out the part about Mole asking for volunteers and sending Dalton.

"What do we do?" Joshua's voice broke the quiet that had fallen on the trio as they pondered the situation.

Max opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly she heard a phone ringing and whirled to find it. She spotted it quicker than she thought – Alec's black jacket lay on the couch in her office, his phone half-in and half-out of the pocket. She gave Dix a look before deciding it might be Alec himself calling for help, so she picked it up and answered it.

"Yeah?"

"We should meet, 452," White said on the other end of the line. "I have something I want you to see."

She looked back at the other two in the room before replying. "Actually, I've seen enough of what you have." She really didn't want to give away the fact that they'd tapped into his comms line if she didn't have to. Playing ignorant might help.

"How about this, then – I have something I want you to hear."

"Go ahead," she said after a moment.

That decision was regretted when she heard a gunshot and a yelp. It could have belonged to either Alec or Dalton. She couldn't be sure. "Heard enough?" White asked smugly.

"So you shot someone. You're a jerk. I already knew that," she said, trying to buy time to think.

"Playing difficult? Fine." She heard him pull the phone away from his ear, then his voice quietly saying, "494, tell her you're here or I'll shoot you again." There was no response. Then, White said, "Tell her you're here or I'll shoot the kid."

The unmistakable sound of a gun cocking was heard, and finally, Alec's voice: "Fine. I'm here. Leave him alone."

Alec sounded okay, but that didn't mean anything; he was very good at lying and at faking things. Max had as much proof as she was going to get. "What do you want?" she asked into the phone.

"To meet," White replied, the sound of a triumphant grin evident in his tone. "I'll call you with the details in an hour." And then the line disconnected.

Pulling Alec's phone away from her ear slowly and mechanically, Max glanced up at Dix and Joshua, who were concernedly waiting. "I was right about Murphy," she snapped as she collapsed back into her chair.


	2. Chapter 2

Alec hadn't made it very far when he first realised he was being tailed by Dalton. And when he'd waited exasperatedly for the kid to catch up, they had attacked. Tasers set to hurt and stun but not quite enough to make him lose consciousness came at him from every direction, and he eventually went down under the onslaught. Dalton panicked, acting more like a scared little boy than a programmed soldier. Alec would have to lecture him about that. Obviously, TC had been making the kids soft.

The two of them had been taken somewhere nearby and chained up before White had stepped into their line of vision. Dalton balked but Alec merely rolled his eyes and spit on the man. Egging on a captor was never a good idea, but Alec figured he was as good as dead anyway and might as well have some fun on his way out.

White completely ignored him, pulled out a cell phone, and asked for Alec's number. Naturally, Alec didn't feel very cooperative . . . until they threatened Dalton. Always a sucker for an innocent kid, Alec gave the man his cell phone number. He was well aware of what they were going to do, and listened half-heartedly to the conversation, his transgenic hearing allowing him to pick up Max's voice on the other end.

He was admittedly surprised when th gun swung up, pressed against his thigh, and suddenly caused his leg to explode in pain. But pain could be overruled by strength of will. He quashed it before the message of agony even made it to his brain. He was still going to refuse White's demands, but every time the idiot threatened him with Dalton, Alec caved.

Max probably wouldn't send anyone for him, but she would definitely try to rescue Dalton, and she knew they were together. He was still pondering this when White shut his phone and stalked off, leaving the two transgenics alone. Alec immediately catalogued his surroundings – he noted that they were in some kind of storage facility. It looked like a warehouse, crates in high stacks on one side. And it was hot. He started testing his chains and squirming around.

"I distracted you; sorry," Dalton said after some silence, staring straight ahead as though afraid to make eye contact.

Alec paused, glanced at him, then turned back to his work, half of his attention always focused on making sure there weren't any other people in the room. "Why were you out there, anyway? There's no way you should have been able to get out."

"Mole told me to come after you. He was worried."

Alec snorted. "Mole doesn't worry. He doesn't like anyone but himself, and that's why he's a survivor. Take lessons, kid."

"He likes you, Alec. Him and Joshua. They said they didn't want you to be alone."

"Yeah, sure."

Dalton turned to look at him. "I'm serious. Everyone at TC volunteered to come after you. Except Max, of course. I was lucky enough to get chosen."

"You call this lucky?" Alec asked, shaking his chains vigorously so they made a loud clanking noise. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. You have to go back as soon as we get out."

"You have a plan?"

"Of course I have a plan," he said with a smirk as he pulled his arms out of his chains, tucking his lucky pin back into his sleeve. "I think White's been dealing with Max so long he forgot that the rest of us got more training. You almost free?"

"Free?"

"Don't play dumb, kid. I know who you are and where you came from. Hell, I gave you half of your training. You should be out of those things by now if I did my job right."

Dalton returned his grin, tugging one hand out first, then the other. "Sure. Where are we going?"

"Not far. I'm a bit off from all of the electro-therapy they gave me coming in here. Oh, and their little metal gift to my leg," Alec shrugged as he looked at the growing puddle of blood on the floor beneath him and his eyes suddenly narrowed. "Did they hurt you?"

"No," Dalton said, shaking his head. "I surrendered when I saw what they did to you."

"Good. Then let's get out of here and hole up until we find a way to get you back inside TC."

"Aren't you coming?"

Alec had stood and was testing out his leg. It would hold his weight, albeit painfully. He looked down sharply at Dalton. "I don't know if all of the excitement has shorted your memory, but I was kicked out. I'm not going back." He let his gaze wander around the room as he heard noises. "They're coming back," he hissed out. "Stay close and hurry."

He was grateful that he didn't have to wonder whether or not Dalton would follow. He'd been involved in some of the training of the X6 series at Manticore and knew they were programmed to do what he said. Besides, he wasn't dumb enough to have not noticed how much the kid liked him. That much was a relief. The two blurred to the side of the warehouse with the crates, where it was darker and easier to hide. They slid into the shadows just as the door opened and White stepped in.

The man stared dolefully at the empty chains for a few seconds before taking a calming breath and calling out to them. "494, you can't get out of this building, and I need you as collateral. I'll take your dead body, if I have to."

Alec rolled his eyes and looked over at Dalton. The kid shrugged. How was it that he looked so calm now, when before he'd been panicking? Yes, there would definitely be more training later. Ignoring his captor, Alec snuck to a nearby window and spared a glance. Armed men stood at the ready outside, guns pointed at the glass. A quick check at another window had the same result. The transgenic crouched down to ponder. Apparently, White had figured they would escape and was going to shoot them if they tried to leave. That left only one option – going out the front door. It was risky at best, but it would be unexpected if he pulled it off right.

"494, I've studied your kind for a long time. I know what you're capable of and I promise that you can't get out of here alive."

Dalton had been sitting next to him, watching him carefully as though trying to read his thoughts. It was obviously an unsuccessful ploy, for when Alec looked up and signaled that he was going toward the front, Dalton looked confused. Then, shrugging again as if he would like nothing more than to walk into a trap, the kid followed him . . . directly toward White.


	3. Chapter 3

"You can trace the phone, right?" Max was asking Dix after she had sat and stewed for forty-five minutes when she was finished with her conversation with White. "I mean, if Alec tapped into his signal, then surely you have the technology to track them down."

"Actually, yes, I can," Dix responded icily, still angry that she'd kicked Alec out in the first place. "But I don't know why we should. I mean, White only wants you. Why don't we just cooperate and trade you for them?"

Max was taken aback momentarily, before she got a hold of herself and said, "Alec and White may not go back as far as White and I do, but believe me – Alec hasn't done anything to win White's favor. I'd bet almost anything that Alec is number two on his hit list, so even if you decide to give me up, White will still keep coming after you."

The transhuman grumbled incoherently at her answer, knowing she was right but not liking it at all. "Fine. What's your plan?"

"Find their location and let me know. I'm going to go down there and rescue them."

"Not that I don't agree with you going away," Mole said from behind as he walked into the room. "But if what you said is true, and you and Alec are at the top of White's Most Wanted list, wouldn't that kind of defeat the purpose of a rescue mission? You'd be giving him everything he wants."

"And do you have a better idea?"

Mole smiled, and it was not a pretty sight. "Of course I do. Give me and mine some weapons and we'll go rescue our guys."

"You're going to blow your way into a familiar's lair?"

"Why not?" the lizard-man shrugged.

"Because it's the most stupid –" Max trailed off as the phone in her hand – Alec's phone, which she had been clinging to like a lifeline since it first rang – started ringing. Now, instead of jumping at the chance to answer it, she looked down at it dumbly, as though she had no idea what to do with it.

"White's early," Dix muttered.

"Answer it," Mole growled, making her jump.

She flipped it open and put it up to her face. "Yeah?"

"Don't think you can actually get them away from me," White said angrily.

Max shared a confused look with the transhumans. "Excuse me?"

"They may have gotten away, but the kid's got a transmitter now, and we'll still find them . . . and you." Then there was a click as the call ended.

Max looked up at Mole as she pulled the phone down. "Uh, did you–"

"We heard," he snapped. "Where are they?"

"Obviously not in White's hands any more."

"I know! Princess has never really needed help with things like escape and evade. But where would they go?"

"Won't they come back here?"

Mole rolled his eyes and stalked out of the room. Dix spared her a glance. "Why? You told him not to come back." And he followed his companion out.

Max watched them, looked down at the phone again, and looked back up at the open door. "But I didn't mean it," she whispered to no one.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Dalton had never had so much fun in his life. He'd had the training, he'd been on special operations, and he'd experienced fights. But nothing was as exciting as watching a charismatic, handsome, normally happy-go-lucky X5 transform into a well-trained, unforgiving, thrill-seeking genetically-generated soldier. He originally thought Alec might be scary, and he was – to those that were on the wrong side. But Alec seemed to be enjoying himself.

The pair had ambled straight out into the open, Alec smirking and shrugging at the look of confusion on White's face. Then, the transgenic had exploded into action. By the time Dalton got out of hiding, White was at Alec's mercy, and he was sure the former would be dead in seconds. However, Alec had merely whispered something very close to White's ear, slammed the familiar's head into the solid ground a few times after he was unconscious for good measure, and gotten up. He wasn't even winded.

"Here comes the fun part," Alec said. "Do you improvise?"

Dalton shrugged. "I follow orders."

"That'll do," Alec said. "Here's what we're going to do."

And that was why, after Alec pulled a MacGyver and used half of the stuff in the warehouse, the two were armed with a primitive catapult. Alec used a knife he found on White to strike the concrete and create sparks that he eventually used to light a crate on fire. That done, he cut up pieces of wood for ammunition, lighting them on fire just before he put them on the catapult and had Dalton shoot them out each window.

The odds of them killing any of the guards this way were so slim that Alec hadn't even planned on it. But the fact of the matter was that he couldn't defeat thirty armed guards in his current condition, so he planned on distracting them. Dalton shot at least one burning piece of crate out of every single window and then Alec aimed the catapult for him – straight at the neighboring warehouse. When that building was successfully on fire, Alec told Dalton to focus his attack on the front doors.

By that time, everything was pretty chaotic. White was out cold, so no one seemed to be in charge. Half of the familiars were trying to put the fire out, and the other half were trying to figure out how to get inside the building to stop Alec and Dalton. That made it pretty easy for the two of them to shoot a few more of their "cannons" and then jump out the side window to relative safety. No one even knew they had escaped until it was too late.

The two ran a few blocks, carefully making sure they hadn't been followed. It was then that Alec lost the ability to ignore the pain in his leg, and with a soft groan, he leaned against a nearby wall.

"You okay?" Dalton asked, knowing his friend wasn't.

"I'm fine," Alec said, mostly because that's what he'd trained himself to say. "We have to get you back to TC."

"No way," the kid shot back. "I'm not going there. Mole will kill me for not staying with you. He's scary."

"Max is scarier, and she knows we were taken by White. We have to at least send them a message."

You need medical help."

Alec looked dolefully down at his companion. "And you're a doctor?"

"I just follow orders."

"I got that. Hey, you fixed my shoulder at Jam Pony. You can do this."

"I wrapped it up. I don't remove bullets. But someone in TC can help you. They can get the bullet out and stop the bleeding."

"Believe it or not, kid," Alec ground out through clenched teeth, "I'm capable of removing the bullet myself."

"From the back of your leg?"

Okay, so Dalton had him there. But that didn't mean he was convinced that he needed to go back to Terminal City. "Yes," he lied.

Dalton snorted. "Right. Anyway, I have an idea."

"I thought you just followed orders."

"Actually, this time, you'll be following orders."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "Really? Whose?"

"Mine. Sit there and don't move unless someone's trying to kill you and you don't have a choice."

"Hold on . . . I missed the part where you became my commanding officer."

Dalton gave him a dirty look. "I missed the part where we still had commanding officers."

"Touche."

"You sit there and I'm going to run back to TC. I can give Max a message and sneak a medic out with me. They can take care of you and sneak back in."

"How in the world are you supposed to sneak a medic out?"

"Mole and Dix and everyone else is on your side. They'll be supportive. Max is the only one we have to trick."

Alec nodded. "Not bad, kid. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Stop calling me kid."

Alec grinned as he slowly lowered himself to the ground. "See you in a few, kid." He leaned back, then called out, "Hey, Dalton?" The younger transgenic turned around, "Get my phone back, will you?"

Dalton smiled and ran away quickly, and Alec allowed his eyes to close. He normally wouldn't have been exhausted by the escape, but having a massive hole in his leg that was leaking like a sieve made things more difficult and tiring. He'd just rest for a second.

His traitorous body fell asleep from blood loss almost instantly, letting him droop to one side as his head dropped to his chest. That was why he didn't see the people who approached him carefully before spotting his now-visible bar code. And he wasn't even aware of their intentions to string him up like Biggs until the first swing with a bat had rudely awakened him.


	4. Chapter 4

Dalton ran as fast as he could. He and Alec could joke about it all day, but he knew Alec had lost a lot of blood and even his transgenic healing wouldn't help if they didn't stop the bleeding soon. He burst into Terminal City without pretense, scanning the surprised crowd until his eyes lit on Mole and Max, who were arguing in a corner until he came in.

"We escaped," he said simply, smiling at everyone as though he didn't have a care in the world.

"Are you okay?" someone asked.

"Where's Alec?" Max interrupted, pushing people away so she could be in front.

Dalton met her gaze and then turned away. "Mole, can I talk to you? Alec asked me to look into one of his . . . er . . . business propositions and I think I need some help with it."

"Sure, kid," the lizard man said after a moment's hesitation.

Nobody was sure whether or not they believed him yet. That was fine; Dalton didn't care one way or another so long as he found a trustworthy medic and made his way back to his friend. Max stopped his forward movement with a hand on his shoulder. "Where's Alec?" she asked again.

Dalton shrugged her off. "Out."

"He's not going to stay out there, is he? They could kill him."

"Yeah, well, you should have thought of that before you kicked him out."

Max bit her lip and pulled away as though she'd been burned. Dalton walked past her, meeting up with Mole as they continued out of HQ, speaking in soft tones. The rest of TC still stood, staring at Max. Eventually, she stalked into her office and slammed the door.

"I need a medic," Dalton was saying to Mole. "Alec was shot."

"Bad?"

"Bad enough. He needs help and he didn't want to come back here, so I told him I'd get someone. You can sneak us out, right?"

Mole thought about it, glancing at Max's door. "Now's as good a time as any. She won't notice much until she's done figuring out how to blame this on him."

Surprisingly enough, everyone who knew anything about medicine volunteered to go back and help Alec. Mole selected one X5 female to go with him. Dalton was in such a hurry that he didn't even stop to find out her name or designation, nor did he really care. All that mattered was that she followed him without complaining.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

A shrill alarm clock is obnoxious. Waking up to having ribs broken is even more so. And Alec was already on his last nerve when he woke up enough to start fighting back. There were probably seven guys kicking, hitting, and beating him while he lay on the ground, although he couldn't be sure because his vision was a bit blurry. He kicked the legs out from under the two nearest his feet, trying to sit up to roll out of the way. But his leg protested and his cracked ribs flared and someone slammed him in the head with the bat. While stars were swimming in his sight, he grasped someone's ankle and pulled the guy down on top of him. For a few satisfying seconds, that guy took the hits that were meant for him.

It wasn't long before the people realised what he'd done and stopped their assault. And that was when he extracted himself from he situation by snatching the bat away and using it to down the remaining attackers. Breathing heavily and feeling infinitely worse than before, he staggered to his feet, stumbling in the direction of the fire escape, where he would sit until Dalton returned. In his weakened condition, he barely made the leap up to grab the ladder.

He'd just made himself comfortable when he saw the kid and an X5 sprint into the alley, freezing in their tracks at the sight of the unconscious bodies strewn all over the ground. "Uh oh," Dalton said, loud enough that Alec heard him.

"Where is he?" the woman asked.

"I swear I left him right here."

"You did," Alec finally said from his perch on the fire escape, smiling at the surprised looks on their faces. "Am I still dripping?"

Dalton looked up, then back at the blood-splattered ground. "Yeah. Come down so we can help you."

"I hope you brought my phone," Alec said as he somehow made it to his feet. Then darkness overcame his vision and he collapsed, his weight carrying him over the railing and onto the ground below, only vaguely registering Dalton's worried cry and hands touching his face before he was out.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

By the time Max had stopped fuming, she had miraculously managed to prevent herself from blaming any of the situation on Alec. She had actually decided all of it was her own fault, and determined to make Dalton tell her how to find Alec so she could apologise. It also occurred to her that he was probably injured. White didn't seem like the kind of person that would fire a gun on the phone just for kicks. He wouldn't have had any issues shooting either Dalton or Alec.

She opened her door and went to search out Dalton, but found Mole instead. The lizard man hedged around the idea of looking for Dalton until she got suspicious. "Where is he?" she asked finally, her tone brooking no argument.

"Unavailable."

"He left, didn't he?"

Mole refused to meet her gaze, and she had her answer. "How long ago?"

"Right after you blew up," he said, not seeing any reason to lie to her now that there was nothing she could do to stop them.

"Alone?"

No."

"Who went with him?"

"Help. Apparently, Princess was shot."

Max took a shuddering breath, briefly wondering why her heart clenched at the news that what she had suspected was true. "It's bad, then?"

"Bad enough," he said, repeating Dalton's words.

She nodded carefully. "Is he coming back?"

"No."

And that was the moment when her world fell apart. Something inside her soul broke, assuring her that she had ruined everything by kicking him out. He'd been willing to support her no matter how horrifically she treated him. He was a valued asset, and everyone liked him. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen him hitting on an unsuspecting female. Alec wasn't acting at all like she expected him to.

Perhaps that was when she first realised that she was in love with him. She'd been keeping him at arm's length to make sure he didn't secure a place in her heart, but he did anyway. She'd tried to shove him away, and when he finally went, she wanted him to come back.

"Can I fix this?" she asked, upset at the fact that her voice cracked and something wet dripped down her cheeks.

Mole looked at her without emotion, then turned and walked away without answering. Max broke down, falling to her knees as she cried.

When the medic came back a few hours later, she had the decency to try to update Max. "He'll be okay," she said. "He lost a lot of blood, but it wasn't life-threatening for a transgenic. Got some cracked ribs and a concussion, but he'll be fine. Dalton's staying with him."

Max had muttered her thanks and barely processed the words she heard before being left alone again. In the days that followed, she tried to put TC back together. But many of the transgenics didn't trust her, the transhumans didn't like her, and she was empty inside.

Two weeks after kicking Alec out, Max decided to lead a supply raid. She asked for volunteers and was dismayed to find that only a few X5s and Joshua would go with her. Since that was all she had, she took them.

It wasn't long before they discovered that it was a trap.


	5. Chapter 5

Max was surprised more than anything when she and her small group found themselves surrounded by heavily armed familiars. In fact, she wasn't even scared . . . mostly because she figured it was White behind the trap and she was pretty interested in revenge on him at the moment. So it came as a bigger shock when the voice that greeted her didn't ring any bells.

"452 and company," a low, drawling voice said. Max whirled around to face her captor. He was about as average as possible – average height, average build, average hair – there would be no way to provide an accurate description to police officers about him, even if she were inclined to report him. Which she wasn't.

"I don't know you," she muttered aloud. "Mind telling me your name?"

"Who I am is not important," he retorted with a grin of wicked triumph. "Let's just say I'm –"

"Psy ops," one of the X5s, Zalia, interrupted coldly. "I know you."

He grinned. "No matter. The main point here is that I'm in charge. I have a proposition."

"Yeah? What's that?" Max asked, characteristically rude.

"One of you beats all of these familiars in a hand-to-hand fight and you all go free."

There was a moment of stunned silence. "Are you serious? You set up a fake supply run for us just to get us to fight for you?"

"Need to know, soldier," he snapped back, waving his automatic rifle around carefully. "So who's up for the fight?"

"What happens if the person loses?" Max bit out.

"You all die."

Silence filled the room again. Max was confused and knew she and her little group was in big trouble. "This is ridiculous," she murmured. What could she do? Certainly she couldn't just let them die.

"Come on, someone has to agree to fight my little army to save you," he said wickedly. "Doesn't anyone want to try?"

"I will," Max finally spat out.

"Remember, if you lose, you all die."

"No one can win here," she argued. "You've got ten familiars!"

"That's just good strategy," he replied. "And besides, I know a few transgenics that could take all ten if they're mad enough." He paused for effect, as though thinking, and said, "Most of them are dead. But all of them are alpha males."

Max glanced back at the four people she had brought with her. The transgenic females could be angry, but they all knew they couldn't win in this fight. And Joshua was way too soft-hearted to kill all ten of the familiars. In a sick way, taking the bullet from the gun would be a better way to die than getting tortured by the familiars. Max sighed helplessly. How could it have come to this?

"Well, if no one has the guts to save you, I guess you're all going to die, one at a time – starting with 452 here." He started to bring up his gun when the most unexpected thing happened. Alec flipped gracefully down from the ceiling and landed in a cat-like crouch in front of the group he had come to protect.

"I'll save them," he said lowly.

"Ah, 494. You think you can?" the man retorted. "I imagine you heard our deal, then?"

"I heard enough," Alec said with an arrogant grin. "I can take all of your little pets."

"Alec, please –" Max interjected once the initial shock wore off, grateful for his help but terrified for his life. It never occurred to her until later that their captor didn't seem at all surprised that Alec showed up.

"I don't think 452 has as much faith in you as you have in yourself."

"She never has," Alec responded, still without ever facing Max. "Good thing what she thinks doesn't matter here."

"I'm guessing she doesn't know you're an alpha."

Alec was quickly making the startling transition from himself to 494, and rolled his eyes. "She does now. Look, are we going to do this fight or what?"

"So you know what you're getting yourself into?" the man went on. Alec didn't respond but his look answered the question. "I see you do. Why are you doing this for them?"

"Guess I'm a softie at heart," he said with a shrug.

"Alec–" Max began again.

"You've caused enough trouble now," Alec interrupted, purposely throwing her words in her face. "I need you to be somewhere else."

Max felt tears threatening to leak out of her eyes as she watched the back of the man she believed she was in love with, the man she had thrown out of his home. Wasn't she doing well? She burned down his first home and kicked him out of his second.

"As soon as all ten are dead, they're free?" Alec was asking of the man who held them all prisoner.

"What if I say no?"

Alec snorted his amusement. "If I kill all ten of your familiars, you think you're single-handedly going to stop me from taking what I came for?"

"Good point. They're yours on the off-chance that you win. But before we start, I'm just going to put them in cages so they stay out of the way during the fighting."

494 – and that was definitely who he was now – nodded his assent and moved his head around his neck as though loosening it, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders. They fought back, but in a few seconds, all four Xs and Joshua had been locked in a nearby cage, where they could see clearly the large warehouse floor that was about to become a battlefield.

"He's not going to make it," Max whispered softly, still trying to hold back the tears.

Zalia looked over sharply. "Cut him some slack, already," she growled. "You never could accept him for what he is."

"And what's that?"

"A CO, Max. And a good one – one of the best. One of the few that didn't believe we were expendable." She paused to look down. "And an alpha, as you heard. I never actually saw anyone beat him in a fight without cheating."

"Cheating?"

"Suddenly bringing in weapons or using past missions against him."

Max didn't have to ponder long and hard to figure out what specific past mission would have been used against Alec in a fight. "They're probably going to cheat."

Now Zalia grinned. "Yeah, but I've never seen him angry, either, and I imagine he's a lot more formidable when he's mad."

With no response to that, Max turned back to where her former SIC was standing, his poised muscles betraying his easy stance. And then three familiars attacked at once. 494 dodged two and met the third head-on, one arm up to block the blow and another already ready to strike back. But by then, the first two had recovered and more were on their way in. One grabbed 494's arm, pulling it back until everyone in the room heard it snap out of place. However, while that was going on, 494 had put his weight back on that arm long enough to use his legs for a scissor move that snapped the first familiar's neck. One down, nine to go.

494 attempted to pick up his dislocated arm to punch someone, and all too late they realised it was a trap – one familiar grabbed it and jerked, popping it back into place and giving the transgenic the use of both arms again. And with a grin that promised death, 494 started to blur. He moved so quickly that most of the watching transgenics couldn't even keep up with him. They could only watch as familiars flew in and out of the battle. They heard the cracks of breaking bones and had no idea to whom they belonged. They saw the flash of red blood and didn't know who it came from. But when they saw the glint of metal – a knife – swishing through the air, they knew the "cheating" had begun.

"No!" Zalia shouted, her hands closing around the bars of the cage in a futile attempt to free herself.

Alec went down in a heap, familiars jumping on top of him almost immediately. All of those watching the fight knew it was, for all intents and purposes, over.

But then, another unexpected thing happened. A person leapt gracefully down from the ceiling again, landing on top of the pile of flailing bodies. Max only had a second to see who it was, but she knew him in an instant – Dalton. He'd probably been with Alec the whole time.

He wasn't an alpha male. He wasn't even an X5. But he was loyal and he'd been trained by the best. It took him only a few seconds to find his friend in the pile and drag him out, tossing Alec to one side so he could regroup. Dalton knew he couldn't take the remaining six familiars – Six? Max thought. When had that happened? – and didn't try to fool himself into thinking he could, because even wounded, he trusted Alec to watch his back.

Max's brown eyes flicked over to where Alec was rolling back to his feet, one hand pressed tightly to his chest as blood seeped around his fingers. The pain didn't seem to bother him, and he leapt back into the fray without pausing for more than a second.

Hearing Zalia's second shouted "No!" stole Max's attention, and she looked toward where their captor was bringing up his gun. He was going to shoot them when they won. She wanted to warn Dalton and Alec, but then they had probably already known. When the first bullet sounded, Alec shoved his companion out of the way and threw a familiar up as a shield. Five to go. The second bullet clipped Dalton on the arm, surprising him more than anything.

And apparently, that was when 494 actually got angry. Max had never seen his eyes look so feral before. All humanity had fled from his person as he audibly growled, and one of the remaining familiars tried to run away. Alec grabbed him, one hand on his shoulder as his foot brutally slammed into his back, instantly paralyzing him. Six down.

Dalton wasn't bleeding badly but certainly didn't want to be anywhere near Alec's rage and thus had retreated to the cage where his friends were. He pulled a lock pick out of his pocket and went to work on the lock, not bothering to say anything to any of them. This was one of the few times when Max didn't actually want an explanation. That was going to have to come from Alec himself, and clearly now wasn't a good time.

When the door of the cage clicked open, Zalia was out as though being in the cage had given her an adrenalin boost. She had every intention of running to Alec and helping him out. But by that time, the fight was over. There were bodies everywhere – the original captor included – and blood covering everything. It truly looked like Armageddon in the room with one lone man standing in the midst of it. He had just as much carnage on his body as those that were dead on the floor and yet he was still shakily upright. Alec's hazel eyes met Max's gaze for a second before moving to Dalton. 494 flashed away and he became himself again. He tried to open his mouth, but before anything could come out, his eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he collapsed bonelessly to the ground.

Dalton was at Alec's side in a second, diagnosing the damage and throwing Alec's arm over his shoulder. The height difference made Dalton an awkward human crutch, but he did it, anyway. With one final glance at Zalia, he tore out of the building and disappeared into the night. Max took two steps after them but Zalia's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Leave them alone," she ordered.

"But–"

"You kicked him out, Max," she snarled. "You don't have the right to follow them to where they live now."

It was the most horribly true thing anyone had ever said to her, and Max couldn't move. "But what if he–"

"It doesn't matter," came the scathing response. "You don't deserve it."

Max finally nodded and allowed herself to be led by Joshua's gentle arms outside to where they could go back to TC.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

AN: I just wanted to say that I appreciate everyone who's been reading and reviewing. Your comments mean a lot. Some people seemed concerned that I was going to create this chasm between Max and Alec and leave it forever, but I won't. I don't have the heart to keep them separated for long. Don't worry! By the way, this chapter didn't agree with me very much. Bear with me.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Here's my attempt at the reconciliation. I hope it's satisfactory to everyone. I probably should have broken it up into two shorter chapters, but I couldn't convince myself to, so you get a long one. Enjoy, and thanks for your great comments! They were helpful and cherished!

--

Although it was normal for Max to return home from bad experiences and lock herself in her office, it wasn't normal for her to do it while acting like a meek kitten. Nor was it normal for her to not even attempt to blame the failed mission on someone else. Or at least be angry. Or react in some way.

That was why everyone in Terminal City dropped what they were doing and stared openly at their leader when Joshua led her into her office, sat her down on her couch, and pushed her over so she was laying down. He whispered something that sounded like "Little fella rest" to those with super-charged hearing and then he walked back out, closing the door quietly and leaning against the wall. No one moved.

Eventually, they went back to their tasks, but something was niggling at them and they felt wrong. Guilt wasn't a common emotion for soldiers genetically engineered to be the perfect human weapons, but they felt it now. Perhaps they'd pushed her a little too hard. Granted, they were all still harboring some bitter feelings about the whole situation with Alec, but Max was still their leader and she was only doing her best.

Two hours later, when her door opened and she came out, they all looked up expectantly. Her jacket was in one hand and she looked like she was about to leave. They weren't sure if she was going to stay meek or start yelling at them, but they were ready for something. Her alert eyes took in everything around her, but it still came as a surprise to everyone – herself included – when she said simply, "I'm sorry."

After a moment of stunned silence, Mole said, "You leavin'?"

Max permitted a small smile. "I have to fix this," she said. "I've ruined it and I'm going to fix it."

"You don't know where Princess is," the lizard man insisted, immediately knowing what she was talking about. "You just gonna wander around?"

"I don't have a choice. I don't deserve anyone's forgiveness, but I have to try."

This was not the Max any of them had come to know, and for some reason, this apologetic and human side of her was endearing. She'd made some stupid mistakes – and really, how many of them hadn't? – and she was doing her best to fix them, starting with Alec himself. Probably more shocking than that, though, was what she said next.

"I know how you all feel about me right now," she went on, her voice slightly unsteady, "so if I can't convince him to come back, I won't come back, either."

"That's not necessary," Zalia interrupted, pushing her way through to the front of the gathering crowd. "We still need a leader."

"We're soldiers," Max replied. "Any one of us could do it."

"Not true," Dix said, his voice much softer than she'd heard it in a while. "Some of us take orders."

"You said we weren't soldiers anymore," a young X6 said.

At that moment, everyone started talking at once. Some were still condemning, some were begging her to stay, and some were discussing her statement about being soldiers. Joshua put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. When she looked up at him, he said, "Little fella need company?"

No," she answered too quickly. "I can't. I have to do this on my own."

He nodded, stepping back, and she gently pushed her way to where she'd left her precious Ninja. Her parting words were nothing inspiring or heroic. All she said was, "Don't wait up." With that, she was off.

--

"Ow!" Alec growled. "You're the worst nurse I've ever had . . . and considering our upbringing, that's saying something!"

Dalton rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time, taking a breath of patience. "Stop whining," he said.

"Whining? Those stupid familiars nearly pulverized me!"

"They did not. Stop being a baby. You're barely bleeding."

This wasn't completely true. Alec had actually been hurt pretty badly during his "alpha" show earlier. Dalton had dragged him home and started working on the many visible injuries, which included but were not limited to a large gash across his chest, a swollen shoulder, broken ribs, cuts and bruises all over his face, a vicious looking bite on his arm (and Dalton was pretty loathe to go near that, not wanting to know when it had happened), and a bleeding gash on his leg. And those were just the obvious ones.

The first of the alcohol Dalton poured liberally on the wounds brought Alec instantly out of the semi-conscious state he'd been in when he was bought back. His eyes cleared, his mind cleared, and pain filled his entire body. It was bad enough to take on ten familiars and a psychotic Manticore freak, but to have a well-meaning child wake you by dumping stinging alcohol over your open wounds was another thing altogether. Hence his undignified yelling.

Alec had no intention of putting up a facade to protect his dignity in this situation. Dalton had seen him shot and beaten up before, and the X5 couldn't muster the energy. Transgenic healing aside – he'd been kicked, shot, knifed, bitten, hit, and thrown so many times that day that he couldn't have walked away if he'd wanted to. As terrifying as the idea seemed, he was temporarily helpless.

Go get that girl that fixed me up before," Alec grumbled. "She wasn't so painful."

"You're worse than a girl," Dalton snarked back. "Get a grip."

"I thought you said you don't have a lot of medical skills."

Dalton looked over from where he was pulling a suturing needle and a knife out of the first aid kit that he'd taken from Terminal City when he was there before. "I don't."

"You probably shouldn't be stitching things in my skin, then," Alec said. "Give me the needle."

"You need help! I don't want to go back to TC and I don't know who else to ask! But I can't let you do it yourself."

"Trust me, I have a vested interest in this going well. I'll be careful."

Dalton was about to reply with a firm no when he heard a phone ringing and looked at his companion. Alec seemed just as surprised, but grabbed his jacket and the phone out of the pocket. "Yeah?" he said slowly.

"Alec?"

It was Max. He let out a breath, not sure if he was annoyed or relieved. He'd actually missed her, which was strange considering how sick of being yelled at he'd been. "Yeah?" he said again.

"Alec, I know you don't want to talk to me, and I don't deserve the chance to talk to you, but I want to beg for your forgiveness. Can you meet me somewhere?"

"Actually –" Alec began, fully ready to let her know how unwelcome she was, when Dalton jerked the phone out of his hands.

"Max?"

"Dalton?"

"We're in Sector 5," he announced, ignoring the look of disdain, horror, anger, and betrayal that washed over Alec's face. "I could use a little help doing some stitching, if you don't mind."

"She's probably worse than you are," Alec grumbled.

"I'm on my way. Is he okay?"

"Not really," Dalton said, eyes raking over his wounded companion.

"I'm still sitting here," Alec put in.

Dalton gave Max the details of their location and snapped the phone shut. "You mad?" he asked.

"You stupid?"

"Apparently."

"Then yeah, I am."

The X6 permitted a smile. "She just wants to help. Your heroic efforts earlier probably showed her the error of her ways and now she wants to make it better."

"So?"

"Aw, come on. Give her a chance."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "You taking her side now?"

"Of course not. But she said she wanted to beg for your forgiveness and I'd love to see her try."

Max felt tears. She didn't cry very often, but the idea that Dalton was allowing her to be in close proximity to Alec – to help him heal, actually – was a gift she didn't think she would ever be granted again. And gratitude had apparently made her emotional. She wasn't under control when she arrived at the specified location, and both Dalton and Alec noticed it immediately but said nothing.

Her eyes clouded over even more when she fully took in Alec's condition. He was lying on an old couch in a sparse but clean apartment, blood stains splattering his clothes and half of the floor nearby, bruises covering whatever wasn't covered in blood. He was pale and guarded.

"I'msosorry," she let out in a rush of breath, dropping to her knees at his side and unconsciously reaching for the stack of towels that Dalton had brought out so she could blot away blood. "I'm so sorry."

said nothing, his eyes riveted to hers. He didn't look over to see what she was doing but they both knew he was well aware of her actions.

"Please don't say anything. I have to get this out." She looked away, one hand over the oozing knife wound on his chest and one hand open to receive the prepared needle that Dalton was trying to hand her. In a rare show of reverence and maturity, Dalton quickly excused himself from the room and left. Max didn't know where he'd gone and was less concerned about it than she probably should have been. But all that mattered in her world at that moment was the wounded man who lay at her mercy.

"I was so wrong. So very, very wrong," she began, trying to be gentle as she pulled the curved needle through tender flesh. His muscles were tense under her hands but he didn't flinch or make a sound, eyes still on her face. "I guess I just decided you were easy to blame. I wanted to believe you were a horrible guy, that you were the reason I couldn't be with Logan and the reason things were going wrong. I wanted to believe that because I didn't want to think anything was my fault. But it was."

I wanted you to be a girl-crazy screw-up because it was easier that way. I wanted you to be the memory of everything I hated about Manticore. I wanted you to remind me of why I didn't deserve Ben and how wrong I'd been about him, too. I wanted to hate you." She continued to stare at the seeping skin, pulling the needle in and out as lightly as possible.

"At first, it wasn't hard. You made a lot of mistakes because you didn't know how to be someone on the outside. But once you figured things out, you made up for the dumb things you had done. You started doing things right and helping people and not messing up. You took my rants and raves and did what you had to do. You made TC run when I couldn't."

Tears were streaming down her face, but her voice remained surprisingly steady, as did her hands, tying off the last stitch and putting gauze over the wound, reaching for another piece of gauze for one of the larger cuts on his face. He still said nothing and didn't move.

"I lied to Logan about you being my boyfriend. At the time, I said it was because he believed it and it made things easier. But I know now that it was because deep down, I wanted it to be true. I knew I didn't deserve you and that you probably didn't want anything to do with me after how I'd treated you, but I still wanted it to be true." At this point, her voice hitched and she sobbed. She hadn't meant to say that. Oh well; might as well go all the way.

"Terminal City needs you to help lead, everyone needs you as a friend, we need you for unity, and I need you to be you. I promise to stop yelling at you and blaming you for everything. I promise to be nicer and to let you be in charge. Anything you want – I'll give it to you. Just –"

it was at this point that the weakened man on the bed made his first move. He grabbed Max's wrist where she was re-threading the needle to take care of the gash in his leg. This immediately got her attention, eyes locking on the hazel ones before her.

"You sure you're okay to do this?" he asked, his voice lower, raspier, and weaker than he expected. "You look like you're having trouble seeing, and I don't want anything accidently embroidered into my skin."

It was definitely hard to focus through the tears, but Max hadn't messed anything up yet. In fact, she was being more careful than she'd ever been in her entire life, and was about to back off when he winked at her. This could have been the beginnings of forgiveness, and she allowed a tentative smile.

"I wonder why Manticore didn't get rid of those pesky tear ducts," he went on, releasing her hand. "I would have thought those would be unwanted."

"Alec –"

"Stop apologising," he interrupted, letting his hand go across his eyes as he slumped back. "Just stop. It doesn't change anything you said. It doesn't change anything you did."

She felt the tears starting anew, and nodded, knowing he wasn't seeing the action. She deserved no less.

"You've probably apologised more to me in the last two minutes than you have in your entire life. I'm sure someone else needs them as much as I do."

That was a curious response from someone who didn't want to forgive her. She continued threading the needle and then used some scissors to cut away at his pants.

"And anyway, I feel awkward, having you throwing apologies at me while you're taking my clothes off." She looked up, hoping he hadn't seen the way his comment made her face flush. He hadn't moved. "Although I think, under other circumstances, it could be a lot more fun for both of us."

She stayed completely still, his wounds temporarily forgotten in favor of his words. When he pulled his arm away from his eyes, he saw her shock. "Max, it'll be a while. But I'm a pretty hearty guy. I stick by my people. I'll be back."

"You'll come back?"

He sighed as if in defeat. "Yeah, I'll come back. You guys have doctors, right? Being on my own has been a hazard to my health."

She now found herself concentrating very heavily on the wound she began stitching. It wasn't as bad as the one on his chest and would require fewer stitches.

"As for the other thing you mentioned," he went on slowly, "I think it's no secret that I've always been head over heels for you –"

She dropped the needle, not sure whether to be glad that it was already attached to his skin and that prevented it from going far, and quickly snatched it back up as though she'd meant to do it.

"– But I don't think I could ever just dive into a relationship like that. We're not even friends."

That stung, and the tears started again, but it was true. He was being honest with her, and that was more than she deserved. She could accept it. So focused on his wound was she that she almost jumped when she felt a cool hand on her cheek and soft lips plant a very chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Maybe one day we can be," he offered in a soft voice.

"I don't deserve your forgiveness," she whispered as she started to sob again.

He pulled his head back but left his hand where I was. "And I didn't deserve your mercy. So now we're even." Alec took another deep breath and sagged back onto the couch, exhaustion claiming him now that most of his pain had dulled to a tolerable level. "You're not a bad person, Max," he got out.

She put one shaky hand up to her forehead, touching the spot where his lips had offered redemption to a lost soul.

"I hope you didn't give away my TV," he muttered as he drifted off to sleep.


End file.
